Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Bodman sets new Yucca deadline

WASHINGTON -- The man expected to be confirmed as the new energy secretary said the Energy Department would submit its license application to construct Yucca Mountain "by the end of the calendar year" -- an admission that the nuclear waste repository program may be another year behind schedule.

The Energy Department had hoped to submit the application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of 2004. But the department missed the deadline, in part because it is still reviewing several million Yucca documents.

As part of his confirmation process, energy secretary nominee Samuel Bodman responded in writing this week to wide-ranging questions on energy issues from senators on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In response to a question about the long-delayed Yucca repository, Bodman wrote: "Although I am not personally familiar with the details of the Yucca Mountain licensing process, I have been informed that the department is currently working through the schedule with its contractor and over half of the documents (2.1 million) are yet to be reviewed."

That was not surprising news to two leading Yucca advocates in the Senate.

"There have been so many delays that it's not disheartening," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the energy panel, said today after the panel approved Bodman's nomination. "This ought to be the last significant delay. We ought to get on with this if it's going to be a significant part of nuclear (power generation)."

Domenici also noted that the Energy Department needs additional time to "thoroughly analyze" a July federal court ruling that threw out a 10,000-year radiation health safety standard set for the repository. That ruling effectively stalled Yucca because the department's license application aims to prove to the NRC that the repository can meet that safety standard, set by the Environmental Protection Agency. With the standard in question, so is the license application.

For Yucca to proceed, the EPA must set a new standard or otherwise respond to the court ruling, or Congress could legislate a new standard that Yucca could meet.

But the latter option likely won't happen because Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada would block it, Domenici said today. Legislating a new standard would be "too difficult" politically, he said.

Energy Department officials have said they planned announce a new Yucca Mountain project timeline next month. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, a longtime advocate of Yucca, today said he had not heard that the department may not be ready to submit the license application until the end of the year.

"We will push this issue to move it along as quickly as possible," Craig said. "We want this to be a thorough, transparent, valid process. If due diligence means more time, fine."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would license and regulate Yucca, also had not been notified by the Energy Department that the license application could be submitted as late as year's end, NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner said.

A nuclear industry spokesman today said industry leaders expect the department to turn in the application this year. "The sooner the better," said Steve Kerekes, spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the top industry and Yucca lobby group in Washington. Industry leaders have implored Bodman to advance U.S. nuclear power generation by supporting the construction of new nuclear plants and Yucca Mountain.

The Senate panel also asked Bodman: Do you agree that the nation needs a permanent nuclear waste repository, and is Yucca the best site?

Bodman answered in writing with a simple, "Yes."

Another question: Will you work with Congress to ensure full funding for Yucca?

Again, Bodman answered, "Yes." Yucca advocates in Congress have long sought to give the Energy Department the money it requests each year, but Reid negotiates to cut the program budget. Last year the department asked for $880 million for Yucca but got about $577 million.

Bodman sidestepped a question about whether Yucca could meet the radiation standard recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.

"My first priority will be the protection of the health and safety of the citizens of Nevada and the rest of the country," Bodman wrote. "It is the department's responsibility to make sure that the repository will comply with whatever standard emerges from the EPA's ongoing process."

Michele Boyd, an analyst with Public Citizen who tracks Yucca issues, said she was glad to hear that Bodman is pledging to protect public health, but it will be difficult for Yucca to meet a radiation standard that accomplishes that.

The full Senate is likely to approve Bodman, who currently serves as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, as early as this afternoon.

The Energy Department has a notable presence in Nevada. In addition to Yucca, the department's affiliate, the Nuclear Security Administration, runs the Nevada Test Site.

But Bodman's views on a number of energy issues including Yucca are not widely known, and perhaps not fully shaped yet, Yucca observers said.

Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., have each met privately with Bodman. Reid has not decided how he will vote on Bodman, a spokeswoman said today. Ensign has found no reason to vote against Bodman, he said.

In his Senate confirmation hearing in committee last week, Bodman vowed to "follow through with Yucca Mountain." The repository, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has long been beset by congressional budget cuts and delays.

Energy Department officials have long said they plan to open Yucca by 2010, although Yucca critics say that is highly unlikely. Congress originally set a goal of opening Yucca by 1998.

Bodman also faces running a department grappling with how best to meet the energy needs of a growing nation. The department also manages a number of low- and high-level radioactive waste issues and oversees billions of dollars in research projects.

Bodman, who also has served as deputy secretary of the Commerce Department, spent 31 years in the private sector. He worked at Fidelity Investments and Cabot Corp., an international chemical company. He is a chemical engineer and a former professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received his doctor of science degree.

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